Nairo Quintana will miss La Vuelta but denies tramadol use, set to launch CAS appeal

Updated 18/08/2022 at 11:17 GMT

Nairo Quintana has pulled out from La Vuelta after tramadol was detected in two dried blood samples at the 2022 Tour de France. The Colombian was retrospectively disqualified from the Tour, having finished sixth, and will now miss the Spanish Grand Tour in a bid to clear his name at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Quintana insists he was “totally unaware” at the use of the banned painkiller.

Vuelta 2022 route: Climbs galore and the team time trial is back...

Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) will miss La Vuelta in an attempt to clear his name after breaching an in-competition ban on painkiller tramadol.

Quintana was wiped from the 2022 Tour de France results on Wednesday, although the UCI said it was not a breach of anti-doping rules and he was free to continue competing.

However Quintana, who has denied ever using the substance, will skip the Vuelta to appeal his expulsion from the Tour at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Vuelta a España

Evenepoel best bits at La Vuelta

00:05:33

13/09/2022 at 16:38

"I am totally unaware of the use of this substance, and I deny having used it in my career," said Quintana, who originally suggested he would compete in Spain.

"With my team of lawyers, we are exhausting all the processes for my defence."

He later added: "I will not participate in the Vuelta to assert my reasons before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

"I will return to the race calendar at the end of the season.

Quintana finished sixth at the Tour, 16’33” off overall winner Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma). It was his best performance at a Grand Tour since the 2019 Vuelta, where he came fourth.

“The analyses of two dried blood samples provided by the rider on 8 and 13 July during the 2022 Tour de France revealed the presence of tramadol and its two main metabolites,” read a UCI statement on Wednesday.

“In accordance with the UCI Medical Rules, the rider is disqualified from the 2022 Tour de France.

“Infringements of the in-competition ban on using tramadol are offences under the UCI Medical Rules. They do not constitute Anti-doping Rule Violations. As this is a first offence, Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas is not declared ineligible and can therefore participate in competitions.”

He has won the Giro d’Italia (2014), La Vuelta (2016) and finished on the Tour de France podium three times.

- - -

Stream La Vuelta live and on-demand on discovery+. You can also watch all the action live on eurosport.co.uk.

Vuelta a España